G. Smart

Marybone Fair. Written and Composed for the Representation of the Boulevards.

1776.

...For the Ladies we've Ribbands, and Muslin, and Lace,
And twenty more Fancies to set off each face,
Then we've Towers and Castles, and Crowns made of Hair,
And we've plumes and perfumes,
And we've lappets like sails,
And curious false tails,
Where Cupids repair every heart to ensnare
Of the Beaus that resort to Marybone Fair...

We've something to see, and we've something to hear,
We have Dancing, and Music, and Drink, and good Cheer,
We have Pastimes within doors, and sports in the Air,
Come the fun is begun,
Every shop, every Booth,
With speeches to smooth,
Invite You to share, of such kind of Ware,
As to Night they Exhibit at Marybone Fair...

Marylebone Gardens was on its last legs when this song was written, and there were various unsuccessful attempts to revive it. 'A representation of the Boulevards of Paris was prettily contrived, the boxes fronting the ball-room being converted into the shops of Newfangle, the milliner; Trinket, the toyman; and Crotchet, the music-seller" (Warwick Wroth, The London Pleasure Gardens of the Eighteenth Century, 1896. Macmillan, 1979, p.108-109). The Gardens finally closed two years later.